A Countess Below Stairs

A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson

If you enjoy historical fiction, especially the kind dealing with royalty, you will enjoy A Countess Below Stairs. The book takes place shortly after World War I in a small village in England. Anna Grazinsky, a Russian countess, finds herself and her family penniless after the recent Russian revolution. Anna's father is dead and she takes it upon herself to become the family's breadwinner.

Jobs are hard to get after the war, especially for women. So, Anna turns to a book she has found on housekeeping. This book leads her into the life a maid in a old estate house. Anna has never worked as a maid before and know little of the life "below stairs." All she knows is that she needs to take care of her family and the new Earl, who she works for at Mersham.

Things only get more difficult for Anna as she begins falling for the Earl. A man who is set to marry for money a most horrible woman. Although it might seem cliche this book is not. There are twists and turns you will not see coming. The characters too are delightful and enough to keep anyone enthralled with their lives.

Girl, Nearly 16 Absolute Torture

Girl, Nearly 16 Absolute Torture by Sue Limb

Jess Jordan is at it again in Sue Limb’s Girl, Nearly 16 Absolute Torture, the sequel to her previous Girl, 15 Charming but Insane. Jess is now on holiday (vacation for us Americans) with her mom and her granny. They are traveling to St. Ives to visit Jess’s dad and to toss Grandpa’s ashes into the sea.

Jess is torn between wanting to see her father, and finally discover why her parents marriage broke-up, and staying in Cornwall with her new boyfriend, Fred. This being Jess Jordan’s life, hilarity and embarrassment must go with her on the trip, not to mention her cell phone which she uses as a lifeline between her and her friends back home.

This book was a great follow-up to the previous adventure and picked right up where the last one left off. I really recommend this book for girls who loved Limb’s first book. I can’t wait to read the third book in this series.